Not so long ago when two or more people were gathered together, within seconds they invariably broke into conversation, exchanging experiences about work, home, school, the car, the bus, the gym, shopping, weight gain/loss, divorce, pregnancy and getting horned, the latest gossip, among a multitude of topics.
These days that has all changed and within seconds of exchanging greetings and enquiring about each other’s health, silence invariably follows as they bow their heads in order to follow their fingers doing the talking on social media.
What is really phenomenal about this form of social interaction is the multitasking dexterity of persons who, on their little cellphones, are able to chat, poke, like and do all the other things possible on Facebook while simultaneously tweeting on Twitter, conversing with contacts on BBM and WhatsApp, sending and responding to emails and messages, watching the latest videos on YouTube, posting selfies on Instagram and whatever else.
I do my fair share of social networking but frequently find myself being scolded by relatives, friends and even business associates, unfortunately, for not answering their calls, reading their emails, responding to their messages, acknowledging their tweets and so on.
The reason is that although I miss my mobile phone, if I forget it somewhere, faster than I would miss my wallet or any other possession, I am not what is now commonly referred to as an Internet junkie or social networking addict.
I have been doing some reading about studies in this area and was surprised to learn that nobody has so far given any official medical recognition of such addiction as a disease or disorder.
However, it is noted that in most addictions people feel compelled to do certain activities so often that they become a harmful habit that interferes with other important activities such as work or school and, in that context, social networking addicts could be considered persons with a compulsion to use social media to excess, constantly checking Facebook status or “stalking” people’s profiles for hours on end.
Believe it or not but researchers at Chicago University have reportedly concluded that social media addiction can even be stronger than addiction to cigarettes and alcohol, following an experiment in which they recorded the cravings of several hundred people for several weeks.
At Harvard University, they actually hooked people up to functional MRI machines to scan their brains to see what happens when they talk about themselves, a key part of what people do in social media. Believe it or not again but they found that “self-disclosure communication” stimulates the brain’s pleasure centers just like how sex and food do.
Clinicians have also observed symptoms of anxiety, depression and some psychological disorders in people who spend too much time online, but little hard evidence to prove that social media or Internet use caused the symptoms.
Meanwhile, sociologists and psychologists have been exploring the impact of social networking on real-world relationships, especially marriage, and some have questioned whether excessive use of social media plays a role in divorce.
In this regard, the Wall Street Journal has debunked reports that one in five marriages are ruined by Facebook, noting that there was no scientific evidence supporting such data.
Finally, if you want to know if you are spending too much time online, google “Internet addiction test” and answer the 20 questions that will determine whether you are mildly, moderately, or severely addicted. Mine showed that I am moderately addicted.
Al Gilkes heads a public relations firm. Email [email protected]
